“There is a free movement of people around Europe. I think that is generally a good thing.

The Labour leader instead blamed the Conservative Party for “spectacular” shortages in the nation’s services including schools, hospitals, transport and police.

He also called for the protection of low paid workers from eastern Europe.

Mr Corbyn told ITV’s Peston on Sunday: “This is a very important caveat, we have to ensure the posting of workers directive is agreed, which will prevent this gross exploitation of often low-paid workers from eastern Europe being brought wholesale into, say, construction work in Britain or in other places where they’re designed to destroy industry-wide agreements or undercut local wage levels.”

The Labour leader has been faced with criticism from his own brother that despite campaigning for Britain to remain in the EU, he is “in his heart a Eurosceptic”.